Critic Reviews

I had a ton of fun playing deadly games of hide and seek with Fiona and Hewie. If you really concentrate on the game, you can probably solve it in about ten hours, but those ten hours are going to be some of the most unique you have ever experienced in the survival horror genre. And who knew you could have this much fun in this genre without a shotgun or an SMG in sight?

Man. Mutt. Mulier. Creature. Canine. Chick. Predator. Protector. Prey. Survival/Horror has a new face. A new team. A new enemy. Capcom, the godfather of zombies, the keeper of lock and key, and the master of unlocking who opens that doorway, has at long last returned to the franchise that brought horror into the mainstream. Earlier this year, GameCube owners lapped up Capcom's number four entry in the Resident Evil series like the horror hounds they are. The game was announced four years prior, which had since seen numerous delays and revisals. Finally when Resident Evil 4 did rear its ugly mug from out of the darkness, the game was unbelievably great. But...there was something missing. Capcom had the ravaging townspeople down, an entirely redesigned first-person method for blasting bunches and bunches of brainwashed foes, a wide-open remote island to conduct the survival throughout this colossal mess, and much more.

In Haunting Ground, when a monster lunges at you, you run away like a scared little girl because that's precisely what you are. The point is not necessarily to kill the monster -- after all, what would a scared little girl know about that? -- but to get away from it by hiding. There's even a panic effect in which the screen drains of color and it gets harder to control your character. This allows for that classic horror movie chestnut whereby the fleeing heroine stumbles as a monster bears down on her.

It's not often that a videogame can make you feel uncomfortable with its themes, but Capcom's latest horror adventure Haunting Ground manages to do so rather successfully. Unlike titles like Manhunt or The Suffering, however, the game formerly known as Demento doesn't disturb because of heavy violence or gore... but rather, a healthy amount of conjecture and inference. Just what is it that the massive sloth Debilitas is doing to our main character following the "game over" screen anyway? How many voyeuristic camera angles can be used to watch the female lead before the experience feels less like a game and more like an intrusion? It's questions like these that give Haunting Ground a definitive psychological edge, and ultimately, it's not what you see that's truly scary... it's what you don't.

In fact, you can alter the ending in the game depending on whether or not you're cruel to Hewie, or if you befriend him and hold his trust. The game at its longest will last between 10 to 15 hours, and you can extend the life of the game by playing through on harder difficulties and collecting new outfits for Fiona (and Hewie as well). The relationship between the girl and her dog, and her total dependence on her animal friend, really gives Haunting Ground its own special place in the horror genre. The hide-and-seek gameplay is not without flaws, but if you're a big horror fan and don't mind something different, Haunting Ground is worth a look.

Despite these occasionally dull moments, Haunting Ground still does an excellent job of getting inside of the player's head and tapping into your fears. What the game lacks in shock value, it more than makes up for in sheer psychological terror. If you're a fan of the survival-horror genre, you should definitely check out Haunting Ground. Just be prepared to sleep with the lights on afterwards.

Gothic Psycho Horror is what Capcom call Haunting Ground, Clock Tower 4 however would be far more apt. Take for instance the way players are introduced to Fiona, their soon to be tormented heroine. Waking in a small locked cage, Fiona's last memories are of being involved in a horrific motor vehicle accident, the windscreen she vividly recalls shattering upon impact as her parents died swift yet bloody deaths. That though was a life time ago and now she sits like a bird in a cage, looking on as a freakishly demented, child-like giant chops violently at a bloody slab of raw red meat.

Haunting Ground is Capcom's latest attempt at trying to scare us. Having pretty much written the book on survival-horror games (Resident Evil series), Capcom decided to take this one in a slightly different direction. First, the game is more exploration and puzzle solving rather then fighting and action. Since the castle is relatively large (over 130 rooms) and disturbingly strange, you can expect to see some rather odd rooms and locations. Secondly, there are weapons, but not in a traditional sense. Instead, you can find or create small devices with alchemic bases that will do varying amounts of damage upon throwing them at the bad guys. There's even a cool little device that you throw on the ground and when someone steps on it, it will cause damage to them. But probably your most effective weapon is the dog Hewie. Once you have befriended him he will respond to your commands to attack.

For adventure fans it's definitely worth checking out, as its something a little different, has atmosphere in spades and in most senses is a high quality title. In fact we'd go so far to say that it's the best game to emerge in the genre since Project Zero II. Just bear in mind you'll almost certainly reflect on your time with the game with a few mixed feelings. It's so nearly brilliant it hurts.

When it comes to puzzles, Haunting Ground was a very pleasant surprise. The overall level of the puzzles is higher than the average survival horror game. Although they don’t match Silent Hill 2’s hard puzzle mode, I found them pretty challenging. The fact that Hewey played an active part in some of them was a very welcome feature too. But the biggest of the pleasant surprises is that each enemy eventually becomes a boss fight, which can only be beat using brains not brawl – although the enemies themselves will use plenty of the latter! I can easily say that Haunting Ground is an ideal game for adventurers that want to try their luck in survival horror but hate fighting and shooting. As long as they can take the stress of being chased of course!

The premise is new, though. Our "heroine" (the term is used loosely here) , Fiona Belli, a girl of seemingly Italian descent but graced with a British accent (the voice-acting is solid), is visiting her parents while on leave from college. During her visit with her parents, they get into a car crash, and Fiona, whose memory of the tragic event is fleeting at best, awakes in a vaguely European mansion, wearing little more than a bedsheet. Although reserved, she's a quick thinker, and she must use her wits to get to the bottom of Haunting Ground's "mystery."

Haunting Ground is a short game you can beat over a weekend. That combined with annoying lag filled gameplay makes it hard for me to recommend it as a purchase. A rental? Definitely, but I’d rather see your 30$ going towards Eternal Darkness, the Fatal Frame games, or trying to import a copy of Hell Night, and even snagging a copy of Clock Tower on Ebay. Capcom’s made some heavy strides since buggering up Clock Tower 3 (actually 4), but Haunting Grounds not quite ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best the genre has to offer. Still, I’d rather play it than the first 3 Resident Evil’s or any Dino Crisis game.

Haunting Ground casts you as Fiona Belli, a diminutive and skimpily clad waif whose last memories are of a car crash with her parents. What became of her parents and how she arrived in this ancient castle are mysteries, but there are more pressing concerns--like the ham-fisted thug with the body and mind of a side of beef, and a striking resemblance to Sloth from The Goonies, who's after her.

It’s the hour of truth. Well, dear readers, ‘Haunting Ground’ couldn’t really convince me to be a true adventure game, though that’s not what it was supposed to be in the first place – I don’t want to become unfair, you see. It struggles but… After having mastered the first few chases with Fiona, a change of title struck my mind – ‘Hunting Ground’. I dare to predicate that the puzzles will be too easy for most adventure fans and the chasing sequences soon began to annoy me. Only the story can make the player stick to the game after a slow start.

When presented with a shoebox of receipts and the siren song of long division, go with the trusty companionship of a 1040 form over Haunting Ground every time. You'll thank me for it and be a responsible member of this nation at the same time.